Football Season Guide

Yeni Malatya had a mixed campaign last season: in the 1st part, they did a good job and stood at the top, but then they offered a terrible performance and collected only 8 points in 2020. The biggest reason for this was the sale of some important performers of the team. Had the Turkish FA not decided for a halt to relegations, they would have found themselves in the 1st league. Ahead of the new season, the board parted company with coach Hikmet Karaman and appointed Hamza Hamzaoglu instead. According to him, they hold a big advantage having last season’s bad memories in mind. Even if it so, their current squad is full of question marks. Captain Umut Bulut is 37 years old. They added Topalli, Lukoki and Cueva so far in the summer, but the fans are not satisfied with them: Kosovan attacker Topalli is at his 1st experience outside his country, Lukoki has been far from action since the 1st of April and Cueva has not been playing actively for a while. Zuqui and Herrera, who are going abroad for the 1st time in their careers, could be useful for the coach. They added Hafez on a permanent deal after he did well last season as a loanee, but the heart of the defence does not look safe. All four players are not good enough. As the club president declared, they are still trying to hire a keeper, a defender and an attacker before the season opener. Following the last season, there will be a great pressure over the team. In order to overcome it, they still have plenty of things to do.